5 Ways Company Events Positively Impact your Company Culture

Your company event strategy can have a huge impact on the culture of your organization. So, rather than planning events last minute, it's important to consider what you really want to gain from the events, and how you want your company to grow.

We have some key tips on how to use events to create greater recognition, connection, balance, inclusivity, and fun.  

1) Recognition Culture

Want people to feel seen and appreciated? Want them to know that their time, effort, and work is valued? Then you're looking for what we call recognition culture.

Acknowledge how hard your employees work every day through events that help recognize top performers, key company milestones, and company goals.

Try these recognition event ideas:  

• Celebrating a company’s anniversary  
• Celebrating when your team hits a sales goal  
• Hosting an awards ceremony for top performers  

2) Connection Culture

Companies work best when every person in every department is doing their job at a high level. That interdependency relies on strong connections, so that everything—and everyone—works together. 

It's much easier to just build relationships within your team or in your corner of the office, so those company-wide connections can be difficult to achieve. Luckily, a well-timed annual event schedule can create connections across teams and departments.

Try these connection event ideas:  

• Creating teams in advance which mix people from different teams  
• Hosting events on different floors of your office to encourage people to venture beyond their office walls  
• Doing a scavenger hunt which encourages interaction with different teams  

3) Balanced Culture

It’s easy to get into a routine where you come to work, check email, grind it out, and repeat. But that monotonous culture creates stress, employee burnout, and a failure to retain or get the most from your top talent.

Rather than getting stuck in a rut, mix it up by including events that help your employees feel excited about what's happening next.

Try these events to improve balance of work and play:  

• Hosting a wellness day during office hours 
• Offering a personal development training on topics like personal finances, emotional intelligence, or public speaking  
• Hosting a cooking competition (guac-off is our personal favorite!) and then enjoying the food as a team!  

4) Inclusive Culture

Companies are paying more and more attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion. That attention should also extend to how you approach planning a variety of more inclusive company events.

Events are not one-size-fits-all, and your events strategy is a great way to show your commitment to various interests and people at the company.

Try these tactics to build an inclusive culture:  

• Polling your employees about what type of events they are interested in, and create a calendar with a variety of event options
• Working closely with your HR team to ensure your events strategy is aligned with the DEI strategy of the company  
• Encouraging employees to run their own 'Lunch & Learn' seminars; this enables your events to be representative of your own population   

5) Fun Culture

Somewhere along the line, hardliners got it twisted—expecting people to grind, grind, grind. But the research shows that when employees have fun at work they are happier, more productive, and stay at the company longer. It's not hard to understand if you think about it: when the work vibe is fun, people actually want to come to work.

Building events into your annual plan is a great way to ensure that the workplace culture is fun for employees.

Try these events to build a fun company culture:

• Planning a company field day for the spring
• Celebrating a product launch with a company-wide pep rally 
• Hosting a game night 

Looking for help planning your company's events this year? We'd love to help. Get in touch today and we'll get started.